Speed records on land and in the air

At the beginning of the last century, airplanes and cars were financially out of reach for most people, but precisely because of that, stories about exciting events on the ground and in the air were regularly big news and strongly captured the imagination.

For both cars and airplanes, weight plays a major role. After all, even if a suitable engine was available, it had very limited power, yet in the case of an airplane it still had to keep an aircraft weighing, with pilot, certainly a few hundred kilos in the air. The aspect of reliability also plays a part, of course. Engine trouble with an airplane is more difficult than with a car; for example, think about where you would want to land, or even be able to land, if you broke down.

To test reliability, so called endurance competitions were held. In this way, manufacturers could put their products to the test under the same conditions for everyone. Good performances at these kinds of events were often decisive for commercial success.

The next step is that of absolute speed. At the end of 1903, when the Wright brothers had barely flown the first airplane, the car was already driving at more than 120 km/h. This record was set by Leon Serpollet with, remarkably, a steam powered car of the Gardner-Serpollet brand. This speed, unprecedented for that time, was achieved on the Boulevard des Anglais in Nice. Not exactly something to copy today!

Earlier land speed records were in fact set by vehicles that were not powered by a combustion engine. The best known of these is 'La Jamais Contente', an electric car with which the Belgian Camille Jenatzy was the first to break the magical 100 km/h barrier in 1899.

Camille Jenatzy in 'La Jamais Contente'

One of the main reasons people used "alternative" power sources was that the combustion engines of that time simply did not yet have enough power. However, the rise of motor racing led to the rapid development of powerful engines. The problem, though, was that these engines were too heavy to be installed in the often fragile aircraft.

It even got to the point where cars became so fast that public roads were no longer suitable as a location. The last official speed record set on a public road is that of William Vanderbilt (the American magnate) in 1902, reaching a speed of 122 km/h at the wheel of a Mors.

They searched diligently for more suitable locations to set records. One of the most bizarre was on a frozen lake, where the Ford 999 Racer, with Henry Ford himself at the wheel, reached 147 km/h in January 1904. However, this record was not recognized by the 'Automobile Club de France', which was responsible for such matters at the time.

The American Stanley 'Rocket', a steam powered car, reached a speed of no less than 206 km/h in 1906. This was the first time a car drove faster than a train, but this 'record' was also not recognized. It should be kept in mind that both attempts were made in America and therefore far out of sight of the umbrella organization based in Paris.

Flying fast with an airplane was of course possible everywhere, and that is exactly what happened. When the First World War broke out, people were already flying at more than 200 km/h. The French (who else) set the tone here with Deperdussin's monoplane designs.

The fastest car in 1914 was the Blitzen Benz, a car with a four cylinder engine of more than 21 liters and an output of almost 200 hp, which that year reached nearly 200 km/h on the Brooklands circuit in England.

The speed on land and in the air was still somewhat in balance as a result.

Besides the immense human suffering, wars are marked by major technological progress. The First World War was no exception. Aircraft in 1918 bore no resemblance whatsoever to the 'Brikken' of 1914. In terms of engines there was also enormous progress. Compact, relatively powerful engines gave the fighter planes performance that people at the start of the war could only dream of.

The need for speed was still very much alive in the 1920s, and once again it was the French who set the tone. In 1921 a Nieuport fitted with a Delage engine already flew at 330 km/h!

However, French hegemony came to an end. Partly as a result of the First World War and the associated technological progress, the English, as (co-)victors, had gained the momentum. Large and above all much more powerful aircraft engines were developed, which were later destined to drive even larger aircraft. France, on the other hand, suffered the aftereffects of the war and continued to rely on what had been developed earlier. Germany, which had been strong in technological developments during the war, had lost and literally could no longer do or was allowed to do anything.

One should realize that in terms of aerodynamic properties, airplanes and cars are completely different. To reach a certain speed, an airplane normally needs much less power than a vehicle.

Generally speaking, to achieve a 25% higher speed you need an engine that has to deliver a multiple of that percentage in extra power to reach the goal. The weight of the object is a very important factor in this. Aircraft, such as those used for high speed, are for example much lighter than record breaking cars.

In short, the big difference is the elegance of an airplane versus the brute force of a record car. The 'solution' to this problem was found by building the new, sometimes more or less experimental, aircraft engines into record cars. A classic example of this is the 'Golden Arrow', which was recently exhibited at the Louwman Museum. The car weighs about 3500 kg and in 1929 reached a speed of 372 km/h on a beach in Florida, America.

The Golden Arrow during the record attempt in 1929

That same year, the Supermarine S6, a floatplane, set a record of 575 km/h. This aircraft did have a more powerful engine, but weighed only 2800 kg.

The 1926 Supermarine S6 just before the start

When setting speed records, strict rules applied and still apply; the cars had to have driven wheels and, within one hour, cover the measured kilometer (or mile) in two directions (harder than it sounds). The average of these two runs either was or was not the record. The same applied to airplanes. During the record attempt, they were also not allowed to fly higher than 100 meters, something that was later abolished for safety reasons.

What were the 'merits' of a speed record, other than being mentioned in the history books?

The fastest on land received the Wakefield Trophy, a solid silver statue, a copy of which can be seen in the Louwman Museum.

The Wakefield Trophy in the Louwman Museum

In aviation, the Schneider Trophy existed in the 1920s and 1930s. This was a highly prestigious challenge trophy for the winner of this international competition (read: race) for seaplanes. At that time, the seaplane was in fact the fastest type of aircraft in the world. The races for the Schneider Trophy regularly saw records being set. In the end, the Schneider Trophy was won by England.

In the period mentioned there was a true record chase, both on land and in the air, with cars becoming only bigger, heavier and more powerful. The absolute pinnacle was the Thunderbolt from 1937-1938, which had two Rolls-Royce aircraft engines with a total output of 4700 hp. This car therefore weighed almost 7,000 kilos and reached a speed of 555 km/h on the Bonneville salt flats. The engines were of the same type with which the previously mentioned Supermarine S6 aircraft reached 575 km/h in 1929, but then with only a single engine!

1936 Thunderbolt without bodywork

This was before the Second World War. What is it like today?

The absolute land speed record is held by the Englishman Andy Green with a speed of 1223.657 km/h, set in 1997 with the Thrust SSC. This was the first time a vehicle broke the sound barrier. This vehicle is powered by two enormous jet engines and has no driven wheels.

The supersonic Thrust SSC

The 'traditional' record has been held since 1964 (!) by Donald Campbell with the Bluebird CN7 at a speed of 644 km/h.

In the air it goes a whole lot faster. The legendary SR71 'Blackbird' reached a speed of 3529 km/h in 1976, at high altitude. This concerns the category of jet powered aircraft that can take off and land in a 'normal' way.

The Space Shuttle, for example, flies at speeds of more than 30 times the speed of sound (over 30,000 km/h), but it uses rocket propulsion and moreover cannot take off from Earth on its own.

Peter Helbach